


Faith, Desire, and the Swing of Your Hips

by StephIsInsanity



Series: Snake!Parents in Sugarland [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Episode Tag - Chapter 21: House of the Devil, F/M, Hopeful Ending, I Don't Even Know, another AU version of FP's retirement party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 05:23:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14013105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephIsInsanity/pseuds/StephIsInsanity
Summary: Before Betty can get a chance to do the serpent dance Tall Boy interrupts the Northsider's and their karaoke fun by calling out Alice for technically being the reigning queen of Karaoke (even though its been 17 years since she last stepped foot in the bar).or Alice and FP perform an angst filled duet in front of everyone and it changes everything and nothing at the same time.





	Faith, Desire, and the Swing of Your Hips

**Author's Note:**

> for Sarah who and I quote, said "I need you to write this so I can die".

A/N: Obviously the song used in this was released in 2007 which would have been right smack dab in the middle of the time when Alice and FP would have actively been avoiding each other but it just works so perfectly for them we’re gonna pretend it came out a decade earlier. Okay? Okay.

Also I am specifically referencing the Sugarland cover of this song which I highly recommend listening to before or during reading this.

You can find it here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq2c8h0eEUo

* * *

 

 

Tall Boy climbed the stairs to the stage in the middle of Archie and Veronica’s somber duet and the couple stopped their performance.

“Hey man, what’s the deal?” Archie asked, annoyed.

“The deal is that out of respect no one in this bar has performed any kind of Karaoke or whatever in nearly 18 years, but when it was a staple we had rules and you lot may not know them on account of you being northsiders but rules are rules.” he paused “and rules state that the first performance of the night always goes to whoever got the win last time… even if he’s the reason we stopped this tradition and I doubt she’d step foot on this stage if her life depended on it but the opportunity to defend the title has to be given a five minute offer before you can continue depressing us.” He concluded his statement and jumped down from the stage.

Archie and Veronica took the steps down from the stage and stood over by the side.

Alice was sitting at the bar, never one to back down from a challenge she intended to take the stage, if only she could convince her feet to move. She waved down Hog Eye and ordered another shot of tequila, she reached for his arm as he went to walk away.

“You still play guitar?” she asked.

He smiled at her, “You think he’s gonna join you?”

She shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter I can do the song myself if it comes down to it, I just need some musical back up.” she downed the shot and stood, walking towards the stage as Archie and Veronica were getting back in place.

Walking on stage she waved the two teens back off.

“It’s only been 4 minutes, I’ve got one more.” she looked out to the crowd scanning for her duet partner and not seeing him anywhere to be found. She did however spot her daughter and Jughead looking at her with wide eyes, the two were joined by Archie and Veronica.

“Hog Eye, if you don’t mind.” she said towards the bar, lifting a guitar up.

The bartender nodded in her direction and handed off the bartending duties to Toni. As he walked towards the stage Alice began to speak again.

“Well, I used to have a partner to sing this song with, god we sang this song at closing time every night for almost 3 weeks after being apart for 3 years... and truth be told I haven’t sang this song anywhere except for when I’m alone in my car since then. As I’m sure most of you remember I had gotten into a huge fight with my husband of almost 3 years at the time and I had left, I had fallen into old habits and fallen back in with old friends rather quickly.” she paused, taking a deep breath. “That was until I found out I was 7 weeks pregnant with my Polly, and I did what I know you all see as the unthinkable and I broke the heart of the _one_ person I knew would always be there for me, and I did it for the second time. I’m not proud of what I did but I am so proud of my girls and would do it again in heartbeat if it meant that they would become the amazing human beings that they are today.” she smiled out at Betty in the crowd before concluding, “And well, I guess I’ve talked enough so here’s a song I never thought I’d sing on a stage again in my life.”

She took a breath and regained her composure, she’d given FP enough time to join her on stage and as she scanned the crowd one last time she still didn’t see him. She closed her eyes and swayed slightly as Hog Eye strummed out the opening tunes of the song. 

Opening her eyes, she began to sing.

 

 _I miss the sound of your voice_  
_And I miss the rush of your skin_  
_And I miss the still of the silence  
_ _As you breathe out and I breathe in_

 

She looked out she locked eyes with her daughter for a split second before starting into the chorus.

 

 _If I could walk on water_  
_If I could tell you what's next_  
_I'd make you believe_  
_I'd make you forget_

She took a deep breath.

  
_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips_  
_Faith and desire and the swing of your hips_  
_Just pull me down hard_  
_And drown me in love_

  
_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips_  
_Faith and desire and the swing of your hips_  
_Just pull me down hard_  
_And drown me in love_

 

She closed her eyes again while the short interlude played she steeled herself for the next verse, it was his and it was going the be hard for her to do. She heard a wolf whistle but dismissed it without thought. Without opening her eyes she began the words for second verse only to stop when her voice was met by his.

 

 _I miss the sound of your voice_ _  
_ _Loudest thing in my head_

 

Her eyes snapped open and she looked over at him, he smirked and met her eyes not dropping her gaze when he continued his verse.

 _And I ache to remember_  
_All the violent, sweet_  
_Perfect words that you said_

 

He took his mic from the stand and walked towards her.

 

 _If I could walk on water_  
_If I could tell you what's next_  
_I'd make you believe_  
_I'd make you forget_

 

He reached out and tucked some of her wild blonde hair behind her ear.

  
_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips_  
_Faith and desire and the swing of your hips_  
_Just pull me down hard_  
_And drown me in love_

 

She joined him and they sang the next part in unison.

  
_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips_  
_Faith and desire and the swing of your hips_  
_Just pull me down hard_  
_And drown me in love_

 

She grabs onto one of the lapels of his jacket and takes over.

 

 _I miss the pull of your heart  
_ _I taste the sparks on your tongue_

 

He cuts in, joining her.

 

 _I see angels and devils_  
_And God, when you come on  
_ _Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on._

 

She pushes him away with the same hand that was holding his jacket and turns her back to him as Hog Eye adds a little harmonica to the next interlude. She takes a deep breath and sways along with the tune for a moment before turning back to him, she doesn’t dare look out into the audience at their kids right now.

He holds out a hand towards her and she reaches out lacing their fingers together. He moves their hands onto his chest so that they’re as close as publicly acceptable.

The next part of the song comes out of them in an almost stage whisper as they stare at each other.

 

 _So come on, get higher, loosen my lips_  
_Faith and desire and the swing of your hips_  
_Just pull me down hard_  
_And drown me in love_

 

Shaking her head slightly Alice pushes back, not releasing his hand but putting distance between them. She picks up the pace for the next set of lyrics, he meets her change of vocals flawlessly.

  
_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips_  
_Faith and desire and the swing of your hips_  
_Just pull me down hard_  
_And drown me in love_

 

He tugs on her arm a little and she steps further from him not breaking eye contact.

 

_drown me in love_

 

They continue singing all the lines in unison, he tugs again and this time she allows herself to be spun into his embrace.

 

 _So come on and get higher  
_ _come on and get higher_

  
She looks up into his eyes as they return back to the almost stage whisper singing.

  
_'Cause everything works, love_  
_Everything works in your arms._

  
They continue to stand there, almost frozen in time as the song ends. They’re startled back to reality as the crowd of the bar errupts into cheers and whoops, they separate and Alice smiles out into the crowd spotting her daughter and the look of shock on her face.

“Thank You.” she says quickly, and whether it was to the crowd or to FP was unclear as she was down from the stage and pushing through the back door out into the alley before anyone could stop her.

FP looked out after her retreating form and then turned to the crowd, bending down to pick up his drink and raising a glass to them, he began to give his speech and tried as hard as he could to stop the little bubble of hope that was rising in him from getting any bigger. She wasn’t his anymore, hadn’t been for a long time and no duet was going to change that and so he downed his drink and returned to his party. 

______

A few weeks later he had heard through Jughead that she and her husband had officially filed for divorce and he felt that bubble of hope grow exponentially bigger at the thought that after all these years there might still be a chance for them to get the happy ending they both deserve.

A couple days later he had finally gotten the nerve to pick up the phone and call.

She picked up on the second ring.

“Hal if you think calling ten times a day is going to make up for the fact that you slept with Penelope Blossom and then tried to cheat me out of my job and a lot of money then you are sorely mistaken.”

FP chuckled, there was the spitfire he loved.

“It’s uh, not Hal.” he said.

Her heart jumped at his voice.  
  
“FP, what can I do for you? Are Betty and Jughead okay?” she asked.  
  
“Yeah, the kids are fine Allie, I’m actually calling cause I’m in the market for a duet partner for tonight and I was wondering if you might be interested.” He responded.  
  
If her heart jumped at his voice it did back-flips when he called her Allie, he’s the only person she ever allowed to use the nickname.  
  
“I’ll see you at 8 o’clock.” was all she said before hanging up.  
  
Both sat in their respective homes, smiling down at their phones like giddy teenagers, a feeling hope rising through them for the first time in years.

 

/fin.


End file.
